Ultra fine bubble generator, nozzle for the same, and swiveling plate used in nozzle for the same

Abstract

To provide an ultra fine bubble generator which enables reduction of diameters of ultra fine bubbles and reduction of diameters of droplets.SOLUTION: An ultra fine bubble generator 1 of the disclosure includes: a nozzle 2; a pump 3 which pumps a fluid toward the nozzle 2; a pipe 4 connecting the pump 3 with the nozzle 2; and a fluid supply unit 5 which supplies the fluid to the pump 3. The nozzle 2 includes: a swiveling plate 21; and a spray plate 22 which sprays the fluid which has passed through a through hole 212 of the swiveling plate 21. The swiveling plate 21 includes: the through hole 212 which penetrates through the swiveling plate 21; and a groove 211 which causes the fluid to flow from an outer peripheral part of the swiveling plate 21 to the through hole 212.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an ultrafine bubble generating device capable of spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles, a nozzle for the ultrafine bubble generating device, and a swirling plate used for the nozzle.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, an ultrafine bubble generating device has been proposed that pressurizes and dissolves a gas in a liquid and generates ultrafine bubbles using the liquid.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, by spraying droplets containing finer ultrafine bubbles, for example, when used in a shower, it can soften the impact on the skin and penetrate deep into the skin, improving the cleaning and relaxation effects. Also, when used for watering plants such as flowers, foliage plants, and crops, it is expected to contribute to improving the quality and growth rate of the plants.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an ultrafine bubble generating device capable of reducing the diameter of ultrafine bubbles and the diameter of droplets sprayed from a nozzle.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the swirling plate of the present disclosure has the following features. (1) A swirling plate that is provided in a nozzle for spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles and generates ultrafine bubbles, the swirling plate including a through-hole that penetrates the swirling plate and a groove that allows fluid to flow from the outer peripheral portion of the swirling plate toward the through-hole.

[0007] Further, the nozzle of the present disclosure has the following features. (2) A nozzle for spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles, including the swirling plate described in (1) above and a spraying plate that sprays fluid that has passed through the through-hole of the swirling plate, the spraying plate including a spraying port that communicates with the through-hole, and the diameter of the spraying port being provided to be smaller than the diameter of the through-hole.

[0008] The ultrafine bubble generating device of the present disclosure has the following features. (3) An ultrafine bubble generating device capable of spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles, including the nozzle described in (2) above, a pump that pumps fluid toward the nozzle, a pipe that connects the pump and the nozzle, and a fluid supply unit that supplies fluid to the pump, the fluid including a liquid and a gas, the fluid supply unit including a water intake port that takes in the liquid and an air intake port that inhales gas by a negative pressure applied when taking in the liquid, and the inner diameter of the pipe being set to a predetermined inner diameter that allows the liquid and the gas to alternately pass through.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] According to the swirling plate, nozzle, and ultrafine bubble generating device of the present disclosure, since the swirling plate is provided with a groove that allows fluid to flow from the outer peripheral portion of the swirling plate toward the through-hole, there is an effect that the swirling flow generated inside the through-hole crushes the gas to generate fine and delicate microbubbles.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present disclosure is embodied in an ultrafine bubble generating device capable of spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles will be described with reference to the drawings. Ultrafine bubbles are generally minute bubbles less than 1 μm in size and are also referred to as nanobubbles. In the following description, "upstream" indicates the side of the fluid supply unit 5, and "downstream" indicates the side of the nozzle.

[0012] The ultrafine bubble generating device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a nozzle 2 that sprays droplets D containing ultrafine bubbles, a pump 3 that pumps the fluid F toward the nozzle 2, a pipe 4 that connects the pump 3 and the nozzle 2, and a fluid supply unit 5 that supplies the fluid F to the pump 3. The fluid F includes a liquid L such as water and a gas G such as air.

[0013] The fluid supply unit 5 includes a water intake 51 for taking in the liquid L and an air intake 52 for inhaling the gas G by the negative pressure applied when taking in the liquid L. The liquid L taken in from the water intake 51 and the gas G fed in from the air intake 52 are pressure-fed to the pipe 4 via the pump 3.

[0014] The pipe 4 is formed to have an inner diameter such that the liquid L and the gas G do not pass through simultaneously but pass through alternately. Here, "alternately" means that the ratio of the liquid L and the ratio of the gas G occupying the fluid F passing through the pipe 4 vary to such an extent that a plurality of peaks Pa and Pb in the graph of FIG. 7 occur. The inner diameter R4 of the pipe 4 can be about 2.5 mm.

[0015] The liquid L and the gas G that have passed through the pipe 4 are alternately pressure-fed to the nozzle 2 by the pump 3. By alternately feeding the liquid L and the gas G into the nozzle 2, it becomes possible to increase the concentration of the ultrafine bubbles (see FIG. 7).

[0016] As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the nozzle 2 includes a swivel plate 21, a shaft 23 for rotating the swivel plate 21 around the rotation axis Ax, a spray plate 22 for spraying droplets D including ultrafine bubbles, an O-ring 25 for pressing the spray plate 22 toward the swivel plate 21, and a housing 24 for housing these members. The swivel plate 21 and the spray plate 22 are arranged coaxially with the rotation axis Ax of the shaft 23, and the through hole 212 of the swivel plate 21 and the spray port 221 of the spray plate 22 are in communication.

[0017] The housing 24 includes a pipe connection portion 241 that connects the pipe 4 and the nozzle 2, first and second shaft accommodating portions 242 and 243 that rotatably accommodate the shaft 23, and a spraying portion 244 that accommodates the turning plate 21 and the spraying plate 22. Threads are cut on the outer peripheral surface of the pipe connection portion 241, the inner peripheral surface of the first shaft accommodating portion 242, the outer and inner peripheral surfaces of the second shaft accommodating portion 243, and the outer peripheral surface of the spraying portion 244, and the housing 24 is assembled by screwing these together. A flow path 242a for allowing the fluid F to pass through is provided in the first shaft accommodating portion 242. The flow path 242a is connected to the inside of the pipe 4.

[0018] The shaft 23 is fixed to the turning plate 21, and when the shaft 23 rotates around the rotation axis Ax, the turning plate 21 also rotates around the rotation axis Ax. A first cavity 245 (see FIG. 5) is formed between the shaft 23 and the first shaft accommodating portion 242. Also, a second cavity 246 is formed between the shaft 23 and the second shaft accommodating portion 243.

[0019] The first cavity 245 is connected to the second cavity 246. The first cavity 245 is also connected to the flow path 242a, and the second cavity 246 is also connected to the groove 211 of the turning plate 21. Therefore, the fluid F that has flowed into the flow path 242a from the inside of the pipe 4 drops toward the groove 211 through the first and second cavities 245 and 246.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 4, the turning plate 21 includes a through hole 212 that penetrates the turning plate 21 and a plurality of grooves 211 that allow the fluid F to flow from the outer peripheral portion of the turning plate 21 toward the through hole 212. The thickness of the turning plate 21 is preferably set to be thin so that the distance passing through the through hole 212 is short and the resistance of the water flow passing through the through hole 212 can be reduced. The thickness of the turning plate 21 can be, for example, about 0.4 mm. As the material of the turning plate 21, a metal material such as stainless steel (SUS) can be selected. The diameter R212 of the through hole 212 can preferably be about 0.5 mm.

[0021] The groove 211 is formed in a linear shape on the surface side (upstream side) of the swivel plate 21. The plurality of grooves 211 do not face each other through the through holes 212 and are arranged alternately. Since the plurality of grooves 211 are arranged alternately through the through holes 212, the fluid F flowing out from the plurality of grooves 211 does not collide and does not hinder the momentum of the swirling flow.

[0022] The fluid F flowing into the groove 211 flows toward the through hole 212. The fluid F forms a strong swirling flow in the through hole 212 due to the rotation of the swivel plate 21. At this time, the gas G contained in the fluid F is crushed and ultrafine bubbles are generated.

[0023] The spray plate 22 has a spray port 221 communicating with the through hole 212. The diameter R221 of the spray port 221 is provided to be smaller than the diameter R212 of the through hole 212. The diameter R221 of the spray port 221 can be about 0.2 mm. The thickness of the spray plate 22 is preferably made thin so that the distance passed through the spray port 221 is short and the resistance of the water flow passing through the spray port 221 can be reduced. The thickness of the spray plate 22 can be about 0.4 mm, for example. As the material of the spray plate 22, a metal material such as stainless steel (SUS) can be selected.

[0024] The fluid F flowing out from the through hole 212 flows into the spray port 221. At this time, since the diameter R221 of the spray port 221 is smaller than that of the through hole 212, the flow velocity toward the downstream decreases and the water pressure increases. Then, it is opened to the atmosphere from the spray port 221 and decompressed all at once. When opened to the atmosphere, the ultrafine bubbles contained in the droplet D become highly concentrated, and the droplet D is sprayed by the action of the swirling flow.

[0025] Next, in the ultrafine bubble generating device 1 configured as described above, the mechanism for generating ultrafine bubbles will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The hatched area in FIG. 5 is the area through which the fluid F passes.

[0026] When the pump 3 operates, the liquid L is taken in from the water intake 51, and the gas G is inhaled from the intake port 52 due to the negative pressure into which the liquid L is taken in. The liquid L and the gas G alternately pass through the pipe 4 and flow into the nozzle 2.

[0027] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6(a), the liquid L and the gas G that have entered the nozzle 2 are alternately guided to the outer peripheral portion of the swivel plate 21 via the flow path 242a and the first and second cavities 245 and 246. The gas G that has entered the groove 211 is crushed by the rotation of the swivel plate 21 and becomes ultrafine bubbles. The fluid F, which is the liquid L containing the ultrafine bubbles, forms a swirling flow and flows into the through-hole 212 of the swivel plate 21.

[0028] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6(b), the fluid F that has flowed into the through-hole 212 flows into the spray port 221. Since the diameter R221 of the spray port 221 is smaller than the diameter R212 of the through-hole 212, the flow velocity of the fluid F decreases and the pressure of the fluid F increases. When the flow of the fluid F maintaining the swirling flow is released to the atmosphere through the spray port 221, the fluid F containing the ultrafine bubbles is sprayed as droplets D.

[0029] Therefore, according to the ultrafine bubble generating device 1 of this embodiment, since a plurality of grooves 211 for flowing the fluid F from the outer peripheral portion of the swivel plate 21 toward the through-hole 212 are provided, due to the action of the rotating swivel plate 21, the fluid F forms a swirling flow and can generate fine ultrafine bubbles. Further, since the diameter R221 of the spray port 221 is set smaller than the diameter R212 of the through-hole 212 (see FIG. 4(d)), the droplets D are released to the atmosphere and can contain a high concentration of ultrafine bubbles in the droplets D.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a graph showing the frequency distribution of the particle diameters of the droplets D sprayed from the spray port 221. When the liquid L and the gas G are simultaneously passed through the pipe 4 as in the prior art, one peak appears in the frequency distribution. When the liquid L and the gas G are alternately passed through the pipe 4 as in the present disclosure, two peaks appear in the frequency distribution.

[0031] Here, assuming that the peak on the smaller particle size side is peak Pa and the peak on the larger particle size side is peak Pb, peak Pa occurs when gas G reaches nozzle 2, and peak Pb occurs when liquid L reaches nozzle 2. This will be described in detail below.

[0032] At the moment when gas G reaches nozzle 2, the gas ratio increases while the liquid ratio decreases. For this reason, the content of ultrafine bubbles is large, and droplets D with a small particle size are sprayed. On the other hand, at the moment when liquid L reaches nozzle 2, the gas ratio decreases while the liquid ratio increases. For this reason, the content of ultrafine bubbles is small, and droplets D with a small particle size are sprayed.

[0033] Ideally, it is considered that constituting only by the spraying of peak Pa contributes to the improvement of the concentration of ultrafine bubbles. However, if the distribution of gas G is increased too much, there is a problem that the load on pump 3 increases. As in the present disclosure, by providing a spraying period of peak Pb with an increased distribution of liquid L, the burden on pump 3 is reduced, and during the spraying period of peak Pa, smaller droplets D containing a larger amount of ultrafine bubbles can be sprayed.

[0034] Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is also possible to appropriately change the shape and configuration of each part without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. For example, it is also possible to integrally mold the turning plate 21 and the spraying plate 22, or to appropriately increase or decrease the number of grooves 211.

[0035] Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the groove 211' of the modified example is provided in a curved shape that curves in the rotation direction of the turning plate 21. Further, the groove 211' is provided such that the groove width becomes smaller from the outer peripheral portion toward the through hole 212. By forming the groove 211' to be narrower from the upstream to the downstream, the flow velocity of the fluid F is increased, and the gas G is more strongly crushed, so that the diameter of the ultrafine bubbles can be reduced. Also, by forming the groove 211' to be narrower from the upstream to the downstream, the swirling flow becomes stronger, and the diameter of the generated droplets D can be reduced.

Explanation of Symbols

[0036] 1 Ultra-fine Bubble Generation Device 2 Nozzle 3 Pump 4 Pipe 5 Fluid Supply Section 21 Swivel Plate 22 Spray Plate 23 Shaft 24 Housing 25 O-ring 51 Water Intake 52 Air Intake 51 Water Intake 52 Air Intake 211 Groove 212 Through-hole 221 Spray Port 241 Pipe Connection Section 242 First Shaft Accommodation Section 243 Second Shaft Accommodation Section 244 Spray Section 245 First Cavity 246 Second Cavity F Fluid L Liquid G Gas Ax Rotation Axis D Droplet

Claims

1. A swivel plate provided in a nozzle for spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles and generating the ultrafine bubbles, The swivel plate is characterized by comprising a through-hole penetrating the swivel plate and a groove for flowing a fluid from an outer peripheral portion of the swivel plate toward the through-hole.

2. A nozzle for spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles, The nozzle comprises the swivel plate according to claim 1 and a spray plate for spraying the fluid passing through the through-hole of the swivel plate, The spray plate includes a spray port communicating with the through-hole, The nozzle is characterized in that the diameter of the spray port is provided to be smaller than the diameter of the through-hole.

3. An ultrafine bubble generating device capable of spraying droplets containing ultrafine bubbles, The ultrafine bubble generating device comprises the nozzle according to claim 2, a pump for pumping the fluid toward the nozzle, a pipe connecting the pump and the nozzle, and a fluid supply unit for supplying the fluid to the pump, The fluid includes a liquid and a gas, The fluid supply unit includes a water intake for taking in the liquid and an air intake for inhaling the gas by a negative pressure applied when taking in the liquid, The ultrafine bubble generating device is characterized in that the inner diameter of the pipe is set to a predetermined inner diameter for alternately passing the liquid and the gas.

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